It’s that time of year. The time of year I swear I’ll be more organized. The time of year I swear I’ll make goals for myself. The time of year I gorge myself on fudge and other goodness. The time of year I realize, I am who I am, so why worry about any of the above.

Well, this year has been really exciting for me. So I’m going to do something new. I’m going to reflect. Because thanks to you—the friends (and friends of friends) who have read, commented and shared my blog posts—I feel like we’ve (yes, we’ve) accomplished something big this year. We’ve created a community where people can share, laugh and remember to enjoy the little things in life that bring us true joy.

First, some love to those who have helped out along the way. A huge thank you to Jodie, Amy N, Aimee H, Cami, Nicole, Julia, Anne E, Megan B, Colleen F, Colleen G, Brian N, Michele H, Michelle M, Aimee T, Ryan, Kristen, Strell, Nancy E and Jenny (plus any others I might have unintentionally missed due to my far from scientific methods from coming up with this list). Because each of you shared my Facebook page with your friends, I’m now up to 250 “Likes”. I didn’t set a goal (see, told you), but I’m pretty darn happy about that number! (Don’t let it stop you from helping me get more though…) And it goes without saying that this site wouldn’t be live without the great tutoring of WordPress guru, Brian N, and the stylish logo design of my former partner in crime, Tony. Each of you who has commented, shared words of encouragement (in writing or in person) or clicked on one of my posts, you rock. Really, you have no idea how much those things have meant to me.

Since some of you are new readers, I thought it would be fun to take a journey through the year in posts. Here are a few of my favorites and some background/color to each of them…

Family Unplugged: I wrote this for YodelingMamas and my friend, Brian N, encouraged me to post it on Shine as well. It was picked up right away and it was the first time I thought this blogging thing might be for me. Reading it now, I’m realizing I could use a refresher on this life lesson (bring on the snow!). I’m still addicted to my phone…and working on it.

From Judging That Mom to Becoming Her: Another YodelingMamas post that was shared by my friends with others via Facebook and email (thanks Lindsay, Kristen, Ryan and Aimee!)—and it made it far enough that it came back to me! Just what I needed to give me a boost in the direction of starting my own blog.

Another Humbling Visit to the Hospital: My friend, Jenny, and her 3-year-old son, Cooper, have been true inspirations this year. Their family battle to cure Cooper of his Leukemia touches my heart almost every day thanks to her amazing Facebook page/blog chronicling their journey. (Plus she’s one of my favorite photographers and the pictures are gorgeous. Strange to say given the subject matter, but true.)

A Family Tradition That Rocks: Our secret to a happy house? Dancing. And thanks to that, I was selected to be a Shine Parenting Guru—one of 20 moms from around the country who write on an assigned topic each month for the Shine Parenting page.

Big Ol’ Belly News: When you blog, it’s kind of funny, because you try to spread personal news the good ol’ fashioned way, but sometimes people hear it first here. I’m 18 weeks now and still don’t know the sex…don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I do in a couple weeks.

What did you love about 2010? I’ve learned that a lot of my readers aren’t the commenting kind (at least not in public), but I always love to hear your stories too!

Thanks for sharing all year! I have needed the boost in remembering those early years of parenting in the midst of the teenage years. I’m thinking someone out there must be sharing this phase as well! I hope the coming year will be one of fulfilled dreams for you and the family.

Again, I attribute so much of my having started a blog to you and your wonderous writings… I just can’t believe that I went a whole year doing Hoffmanese and actually posting something new almost every day. I appreciate the fact that it has encouraged me to remember the details and bring the camera out of the purse to capture my kids’ fun moments 🙂
Happy New Year to you and yours, Amy! 🙂

Funny thing is, I now look to you/Hoffmanese for inspiration. I’m way behind on my family blog, but have lots of ideas and pictures to share. It’s such a fun way to chronicle the adventures of childhood and parenthood. Thanks for sharing your experiences and continuing to make me laugh/think/write!